Faye Driscoll’s “Thank You For Coming: Play” will be presented at the Institute of Contemporary Art Oct. 20-21.

Julieta Cervantes

DANCE

Pilobolus, Paul Taylor, and other big movers

By Karen Campbell, Globe CorrespondentSeptember 07, 2017

LET’S DANCE BOSTON! What a way to open the season! Put on your dancing shoes and join in the Celebrity Series’s free outdoor dance parties for all ages. On each of four nights plus Sunday afternoon, the event features a different dance style, from swing to salsa, accompanied by live music and starting with a 45-minute group dance lesson to help you get your groove on. Sept. 13-17. Free. Dewey Square Park, Rose Kennedy Greenway. 617-482-6661, www.celebrityseries.org

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DANCE UP World Music/CRASHarts celebrates dance talent from around New England with this promising showcase encompassing a range of styles, from tap and hip-hop to contemporary dance. Featured artists are The Wondertwins, Ian Berg’s tap company Subject:Matter, james morrow/The Movement, Kat Nasti Dance, Doppelgänger Dance Collective, and Alexander Davis Dance. Sept. 22-23. $28-$32. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-876-4275, www.worldmusic.org

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BU DANCE SHOWCASE 2017 The dance program at Boston University showcases its faculty and students, as well as a select group of guest artists, at this lively annual event. In addition to performances by Boston Ballet’s training company BBII, the program will feature choreography by Janelle Gilchrist, Lynn Modell, Margot Parsons, DeAnna Pellecchia, Marin Orlosky Randow, and Liz Roncka. Sept. 22-23. $12-$20. Boston University Dance Theater. 617-358-2500, www.bu.edu/fitrec

IPSWICH MOVING COMPANY Since the company got such a positive response to last year’s aerial dance installation over the Ipswich River, the dancers are presenting “When Air Meets Water II.” Part of the Ipswich Illumination festival, the mid-air dance features performers suspended from the arches of the Green Street Bridge, to live a cappella music. Sept. 30, 8 p.m. Free. Green and Water streets, Ipswich. 978-356-5565, www.ipswichmovingco.org

JOSÉ MATEO BALLET THEATRE The company opens its 32nd season with “Assault on the Senses,” which showcases its founder’s penchant for the mysterious. The program features Mateo’s 2006 “Covens,” set amid the hysteria of a witch hunt; “Fearless Symmetries” (2008), to music by John Adams; and the powerful “Isle of the Dead” (1993), fueled by Sergei Rachmaninoff’s tumultuous score of the same name. Oct. 6-29. $45. Sanctuary Theatre, Cambridge. 617-354-7467, www.ballettheatre.org

LION’S JAW The second annual incarnation of New Movement Collaborative’s dance/performance festival caps five days of extensive interdisciplinary training and exploration with two performances plus an evening of informal showings and improvisations followed by a dance party. The three “Rs” of this ambitious initiative are risk, rigor, and rebellion. Oct. 6-8. $5-$25. Green Street Studios, Cambridge. 857-242-6789, www.lionsjaw.com

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY The renowned New York troupe celebrates its 10th consecutive season at the Mahaiwe with performances over the prime leaf-peeping weekend of Columbus Day. The program features Taylor’s “Roses” and the gracious and exuberant “Arden Court,” as well as a new commissioned work by Taylor alumna Lila York about finding peace in an unkind world. Oct. 7-8. $10-$65. Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington. 413-528-0100, www.mahaiwe.org

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TINY & SHORT: A DROP IN THE BUCKET This Dance Complex initiative celebrates the idea that great things can come in small packages. The show challenges choreographers to experiment with confining movement to a 4-by-4-foot stage over a condensed time frame, kind of like a terpsichorean elevator pitch. At the end, audience members get to support their favorite by dropping a vote in a bucket. Oct. 13-15. $13-$26. Dance Complex, Cambridge. 617-547-9363, www.dancecomplex.org

TERO SAARINEN COMPANY Williams College offers a rare New England opportunity to see a new work by one of Finland’s leading contemporary choreographers. “Morphed,” set to a score by Esa-Pekka Salonen, features eight men in an examination of change and sensuality, with movement ranging from meditative to aggressive. Oct. 13. $3-$10 Williams College MainStage, Williamstown. 413-597-2425, https://62center.williams.edu

Pilobolous performs during the American Dance Festival

Ben McKeown

PROMETHEUS DANCE The acclaimed company presents “Project I.I.I.,” the culminating performance of a years-long collaboration with provocative visual designers Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. The three “I’s” stand for “influence, impact, and imprint,” and the creators hope the imagery of movement, props, and video tap into a collective consciousness. Oct. 19-21. $20-$25. Delbridge Family Center for the Arts, Natick. 508-650-5048, www.prometheusdance.org

FAYE DRISCOLL The provocative New York-based choreographer returns to the Institute of Contemporary Art with “Thank You for Coming: Play.” The second installment of her “Thank You for Coming” series, “Play” features five dancers and explores our sense of self via the stories we tell to one another. Oct. 20-21. $15-$25. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3103, www.ICAboston.org

PILOBOLUS No dance company has explored the sculptural possibilities of the human body as provocatively, expressively, and often humorously as Pilobolus, and a visit by the troupe is always a chance to witness some eye-popping creativity. The early word is that the program includes “The Inconsistent Pedaler,” the company’s absurdist acrobatic collaboration with writer Etgar Keret and filmmaker Shira Geffen. Oct. 27-29. $35-$75. Boch Center Shubert Theatre. 617-482-6661, www.celebrityseries.org

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ELEPHANT JANE DANCE Renowned dancer and dance maker Heidi Henderson brings her Rhode Island-based company to the area for a program of eclectic contemporary work set to music ranging from Franz Schubert to David Bowie and Justin Timberlake. Nov. 11-12. $13-$26. Dance Complex, Cambridge. 617-547-9363, www.dancecomplex.org

ANNA MYER AND DANCERS Veteran Boston choreographer Anna Myer and her nine dancers offer the world premiere of a work that combines hip-hop and contemporary dance, with a score that features both live viola and the spinning records of a DJ. Nov. 10-11. $32-$36. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-876-4275, www.worldmusic.org